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History and Philosophy | Winemaker Profile | Regional Overview
History and Philosophy
The Margrain vineyard, planted in 1992, was born from the passion for fine wine, good food and the country lifestyle held by husband and wife owners Daryl and Graham Margrain. While running a successful Wellington business they were looking for a new focus when they recognised the potential Martinborough held for the establishment of a quality winery, accommodation and conference complex.
They were part of the second wave of wine enthusiasts who came to town to follow on from the success of the pioneer wineries which had established themselves some 10 years previously. Having developed a love for the regions wines, they quickly came to realise the importance of the local climate plus the effects of the now famous Martinborough Terrace soils.
The original 4 hectare property combined perfect location with the essential soil type, - a fine layer of silty loam over deep river gravels which sits on the edge of the terrace overlooking the Huangaroa river bed. The site was immediately planted to Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Merlot, - a combination of what was already emerging as the regions best styles.
The company has recently expanded with the purchase of the adjacent vineyard (one of the original 4 in the town). The proximity is perfect, the soil excellent and the site well proven. Extensive replanting to Pinot Noir has been carried out and the remaining original plantings gave welcome access to fruit from 20 years old vines, - a rarity in this young region. In the same year we leased the nearby Haythornthwaite vineyard, also on the Martinborough Terrace and the total result was a doubling of wine volume from the 2000 vintage plus the addition of two new wine styles to the range. A beautifully perfumed Gewurztraminer and a fascinating Chenin Blanc.
In the winter of 2001, a further block was planted, primarily to Pinot Noir in an exciting new sub-region 8 km south of town. The site has very similar attributes to the home block, being on the edge of a terrace rising above the Dry River – a small river so named because of its propensity to run beneath its bed in all but the wettest times of year.
Grahams philosophy in branding the company was a simple one, “If it’s worth doing, it’s worth putting your name on.” Our winemaking philosophy is equally straight forward, simply to produce the very best wines we can, without compromise. This task begins each year with pruning and ends only when the wine is in the bottle. Yields of between 1.5 and 2 tonnes per acre are an essential part of this strategy.
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Winemaker Profile
Strat Canning, a quietly confident and somewhat understated winemaker, started with the company in 1996, in time for the second Margrain vintage. He has an Oenology Degree from Charles Sturt University in Australia and his previous industry experience included stints as assistant winemaker, and of equal importance, as vineyard manager. He has had a key role in development of both viticulture and wine style and is keen to ensure there is no barrier between vineyard and winery efforts.
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Regional Overview
Martinborough
At the head of a geologically insignificant horseshoe valley in the southern Wairarapa, in the southern reaches of New Zealand’s North Island, lies the once sleepy town of Martinborough. On the Terrace raised above the Huangaroa River which runs around the edge of the town, vines grow in near perfect conditions.
The mighty Tararua Range to the west, combined with low hills to the north and east protect this tiny area from rainfall throughout the long dry summer. Shallow silt and clay loams over deep gravels have limited fertility and an ideal water holding capacity. In all but the driest years, the vines have sufficient moisture, without the need for irrigation, to support growth until mid season. Some time in January depleted soil moisture then causes growth to cease leaving the vine with no other option but to concentrate on ripening fruit perfectly.
Spring frosts can be a problem but days over 30 degrees Celsius are rare, giving long, moderate and controlled ripening conditions. Extended autumns usually mean harvest decisions are not pressured by weather or disease but rather by optimum physiological ripeness. Crops are kept low by cold outbreaks from the exposed southern flank, which usually occur at least once during the critical flowering period. Vine growth is further suppressed by the merciless nor’ west winds which can blow for weeks during the spring equinox, buffeting tender shoots and drying out the soil.
Under these conditions, Pinot Noir in particular, produces at its best.
Vine Management
Every vine operation with the exception of spraying and a one off annual top trim is carried out by hand necessity at least 20 passes of each vine each year. This is in addition to tractor work such as spraying and mowing of cover crops, and regular monitoring to check disease and general vine health status. Our vine management is a very hands on affair.
The majority of the block is trained to the Scott Henry system, which is designed to balance the vines’ physical growth with its capacity to grow. The result is a wall of canopy over 2 metres high and only 2 – 3 leaves thick. This gives each leaf and ultimately every bunch optimum exposure to sunlight and air movement reducing shading and humidity within the canopy. All leaves around the bunches are plucked off by hand early in the ripening period to further enhance this effect.
The Harvest
All harvesting is done by hand as each block is assessed to have reached optimum ripeness. Vines of the same variety and clone and on the same soil type sometimes just a few rows are considered as a “batch” and are sampled weekly and sometimes daily towards the end. They are tested for sugar level, acid and pH and most importantly flavour development so that each batch is harvested at the best possible moment.
Vinification
The ability to handle small batches of grapes and wine in the winery (i.e. small press and many small tanks) aids our ability to select small parcels of grapes from the vineyard, and some days pickers work just a few hours. This is particularly true with the chardonnay as each 228 and oak barrique becomes a fermenter and thus a micro-lot of wine.
Chardonnay grapes arrive from the vineyard in 8 kg picking bins and are tipped directly into the membrane press as whole clusters. Juice is gently squeezed out over 4 hours and settled over night in stainless steel. After transfer to barrel, the juice is yeasted and monitored daily during ferment then topped and allowed to sit quietly in the same barrel until first racking some 8 months later. Almost 60% of the barrels of this wine were encouraged to undergo malolactic fermentation to soften the acid and add enticing buttery flavours
Pinot Noir is a variety with great subtlety and none of its many facets are present in excess. The aim of the early vinification therefore is to fully coax out the myriad of flavours and the entire colour without extracting any of the bitter elements from the seeds or skins. This is a tight rope but when done successfully results in young wines with warmth structure and opulent fruit characters, while pale spent husks are all that remain of the berries after pressing. One of the major techniques which we employ is to stack the 8kg picking bins in the chiller overnight and cool the grapes down to about 5 degrees Celsius. They are then de-stemmed and crushed directly into 3000 litre open stainless steel fermenters and left to steep in their own juices for 7-10 days. The cool temperature prevents the onset of fermentation, and with gentle hand mixing once per day, the extraction of colour and fine-grained tannins occurs gently in the absence of alcohol or heat. This process is termed (rather grandly) pre fermentation maceration.
Once ferment begins the plunging of the cap is increased to 4 times per day and temperature of up to 38 degrees are reached. Extraction of remaining tannins and colour occur at this time and the new wine is pressed off soon after all the sugar is used up. (the point of dryness).
Serving Instructions
Pinot Noir needs no introduction to those who love it and it’s myriad of flavours make it in my mind the perfect match for almost any food. It must also be mentioned that it’s subtleties and complexities make it the perfectly happy in its own company, wherever camaraderie is in the air.
Our Pinot Noir is best served slightly above cellar temperature i.e. 16 – 18 degree’s Celsius. Younger or older wines may benefit from decanting to allow them a breath of fresh air.
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